Head Games and Innocence
by Ryoma'Chan
Summary: Temari chan? The young girl looked up. I love him. Temari just smiled. I know. Temari? Temari blinked. Do you love Shika? The older girl blushed. Uhum. Well.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: I'm trying to keep them in character.)

"Temari?" A young looking girl glanced up, her head cocked, fiery locks falling into her eyes causing her to blink and push them out of the way with her fingertips.

"Temari – chan, I do not think I can go down there. I'll make a fool of myself."

The older blonde smiled and patted her arm reassuringly. "Nonsense Ryoma, you'll be fine. My brothers will take to you no sweat."

Ryoma admired Temari's confidence and out spoken nature. At times, Ryoma wished she were a bit more like Temari.

"I don't know Tem – chan, Kankurou seems kind of brash and Gaara seems aloof. But you do know them best." Ryoma looked up into Temari's dark grey eyes, her own filled with doubt.

Temari, however, just laughed. Her laugh was a sweet sound that Ryoma enjoyed listening to and wished Temari would laugh more often.

"Temari, you really should laugh more often. It is such a sweet sound." Ryoma's wide innocent eyes blinked sincerely.

Temari, still in a fit of giggles just shook her head. "You'll make me blush. C'mon let's go down. I bet you breakfast is waiting."

"Pancakes I hope. Light and fluffy, with syrup." Ryoma smiled and patted her empty belly which rumbled with affirmation.

Temari just giggled and took the girl by the hand and took off down the hall, down the stairs and almost collided with the grandfather clock by just barely making the turn into the kitchen.

Ryoma's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle a giggle. Kankurou was in the kitchen flipping flapjacks and dancing about the room to music only his ears could hear. Gaara was no where to be seen. Ryoma looked away as she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Tem – chan, do you think it is a good idea to let Kankurou cook? He may just very well burn the pancakes." Ryoma had lowered her voice to a whisper as her hand once again covered her mouth, this time to hide a yawn.

Temari shook her blonde locks and giggled. "Burnt or not burnt, I'm famished. Shall we proceed?"

With a shy smile Ryoma nodded and followed after Temari.

"Kankurou, have you seen Gaara?"

The older boy nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned unsteadily upon his heels. His hand landed upon the griddle and with a hiss nursed his injured limb. Ryoma was tempted to fix it, bandage it, but by the time she had nursed her own courage Gaara made his way to the table, head propped up in his hands.

"Tem, I'm hungry." He stated matter – of – factly and aimed a pointed look in her direction, missing Ryoma altogether.

Kankurou grumbled still nursing his hand as he turned around to transport the pancakes from the griddle to a plate. Ryoma settled herself into a chair across from Gaara and in the middle of Temari and Kankurou. Her stomach rumbled again and she was quick to clamp her arms about her middle, but the damage was done. All three sand siblings looked at her and blinked. Temari tried hard not to laugh, even going out of her way and turning around, Gaara smirked shaking his head as he helped himself to pancakes and Kankurou just looked at her in astonishment.

"Huh." Was all he could manage. Ryoma, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes, was not paying attention until the first three pancakes were dropped onto her plate.

"Temari, were you planning on telling us we had a guest?" Kankurou broke the silence as he tried to form a sentence between bites of pancake. Ryoma giggled and occupied herself with her pancake, dousing it in butter and syrup. Gaara watched in slight amazement as the girl packed away calorie after calorie and still managed to be hungry. He looked down at his own plate and huffed.

"I would have dear brother. If I had known myself she was coming. Ryoma here dropped in late last night upon my window sill. Claims to be running from some Jounin elites." Temari shrugged and finished off her morning meal. Ryoma smiled softly and nodded. She pushed back her chair and started clearing plates. Temari made a move to help her, but Ryoma just swatted her hand away and stuck out her tongue.

"Kankurou – sama?" Ryoma peered into the bathroom, watching Kankuro decorate his features with a brush and purple ooze. He only murmured and stopped once to motion her in with the crook of his finger. She sat on the edge of the counter and watched him intently and was once attack with the paint brush to her nose. She peered down upon herself crossed eyed trying to make sense of what just happened. Kankurou laughed and shook his head. She tried glaring at him but ended up laughing as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. He splashed more paint onto her cheeks and took off like a fire cracker out of the bathroom, Ryoma hot on his heels.

They lay, panting outside in the warm summer air, grinning like fools and trying to catch a breath. She was curled up next to him as he was stretched out. When he stretched she could feel his muscles contract and his heart beat decrease. She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes, consequently rubbing some of the Kabuki paint onto her hands. She ran her fingers through her hair, highlighting golden locks with purple streaks. Ryoma yawned and stretched.

"Perhaps we should head in?"

The light was fading and no matter how hard she tried, Ryoma could not keep her eyes open. She was curled up at the far end of the couch, Temari at the other end, Kankurou in an armchair feet propped up on a pouf eyes closed. Gaara on the other hand was propped up at the window sill gazing silently out the window, face impassive. Ryoma blinked and found herself slipping off the couch, chin resting on her chest as she slouched forward, right leg and right arm slung over the couch, left leg bent at the knee, left arm flopped across her forehead.

"How bothersome." She countered in the attempt to right herself again. Temari looked at her with a funny expression before turning away. Ryoma just tilted her head and shrugged. A big grandfather clocked chimed eleven o'clock, two hours of doing nothing but staring lifelessly at the fire place or gazing robotically at the TV. Ryoma hiccupped and smiled sheepishly at Gaara who gave her a funny look. He just shook his head, his green eyes rolling once in their sockets as she giggled.

"Eureka!" She rolled off the couch and padded her way into the kitchen. Banging pots and pans, rummaging through the pantry she finally found what she wanted – a bag of double stuffed marshmallows and four poker sticks. Padding back into the living room, Ryoma passed out poker sticks jammed three marshmallows each to the sand sibs before settling herself in front of the fire, metal stick out in front of her like a fishing pole.

She was fishing for s'mores.

Temari, with a mischievous grin plopped down next to her dark haired friend her own marshmallow roaster out in front of her. The boys just shot each other looks and sighed. They dragged themselves from their spots and sat unceremoniously in front of the blaze - head in their hands. Ryoma popped a marshmallow into Kankurou's mouth causing him to mumbled and pull sticky gobs of marshmallow from the corners of his mouth. Ryoma just grinned, flashing a peace sign – her work was done. No sooner had she settled on roasting her second marshmallow when a gooey mess was popped into her own mouth, decorating her nose and cheeks. She tackled him, pinning him beneath her. Holding a marshmallow precariously close to his nose, a smirk flickered across her face before she was over turned, laying flat on her back, two marshmallows occupying her masticating cavity. She glared at him, or at least attempted to make herself look formidable with puffed out cheeks and marshmallow spread dotting her nose. Kankurou had to turn away, shaking with laughter as he tried to keep her pinned. She swallowed, taking the opportunity to once again pin him.

"Ha. What now my lovely puppet master?"

He looked up at her and smirked, "You really want to know?"

Ryoma grinned showing pearly whites and marshmallow.

"Ew." Kankurou wrinkled his nose in contempt as she giggled.

"I really don't want to know." Temari cocked her head, arms folded in front of her chest and blinked. She was smirking, eyebrow cocked as she watched the two. Gaara watched them indifferently, shaking his head slowly before resuming his marshmallow roasting. Ryoma curled upon his chest and nodded off.

"Hmpf. Damn woman. What am I, her babysitter?"


	2. A box of Mario Kart

_(AN: Reviews? Thanks to Spectrum, whose story "Button Mashing" is my inspiration for this chapter.)_

_I do not own Nintendo 64, Naruto or the such. I'm a penniless writer. I'm thinking of changing the title. Any suggestions?_

Ryoma dove underneath the bed rummaging through Kankurou's mess. She picked apart tools, spare parts and even a head. She blinked once and set it aside, promising she'd make a body for it. Feverously she began tossing articles over her shoulder and onto the middle of Kankurou's floor. One such article (a screw driver) flew at such a velocity that it 'Thumped' Kankurou squarely on the nose. A small, disgruntled 'Keh,' was the only noise he made as he half heartedly rubbed at his sore nose. Ryoma hummed gaily to herself as she dug a deeper pit beneath his sleeping quarters. Her hips danced side to side in a subtle fashion as she was up to her elbows in everything but the object she was looking for.

He watched her bemused and slightly attracted to the small female dancing in front of him. His lip twitched as he leaned upon the door frame and coughed. 'Twang,' the sound of metal upon flesh had Kankurou wrinkling his nose in a horrified manner.

"Damnit! Damnit all to Hell!"

Curses and thumping could be heard coming from underneath the metal framing and Kankurou had to wince. He rubbed his head sympathetically. When Ryoma arched her back to pull out, she rammed her spine into the Box Spring's edge leaving an angry red welt.

"Oh. Holy Hell!" Still hiding beneath the iron giant, her fists curled and her eyes welled shut with hot tears. Gulping a shaking breath, Ryoma rested her forehead to the carpet trying to rid the incessant drumming her drummer boy insisted on playing from the recesses of her mind. Her palm slipped and became smashed between a very water damaged box and a plastic container of knickknacks. She closed her eyes slowly, willing herself not to scream in aggravation. Ryoma snickered and in one swift movement tugged on the box and toppled out from underneath the bed.

"Ha!" Ryoma pulled out from underneath the bed holding a worn and tattered box marked, '**Electronics**,' and held it up victoriously. Her normally neat, up kept hair fell in red waves about her face, sticking up in every direction from the base of her skull. She had the forming of an irate bruise cropping up beneath her eye.

Kankurou blinked.

Flashing a peace sign, Ryoma moved a strand of hair from green eyes and beamed.

"What the hell is it?" A bewildered Kankurou inquired. He had one eyebrow raised, arms crossed in front of his chest, foot tapping softly against the carpet.

Ryoma just grinned and hugged the box closer to her.

"It's a Nintendo 64. I haven't played it in years. And man, what a withdrawal."

'_Withdrawal?' _Kankurou dumbly mouthed the foreign expression.

Head cocked, Ryoma blinked. She could have sworn everyone knew about the Nintendo 64. Or at least had heard of videogames.

Hesitantly, Kankurou prodded the box with a nimble reach.

Then again. Maybe not.

She blinked again as he continued to hold a blank stare.

"V.i.d.e.o.g.a.m.e.s? Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Pokemon?!"

Ryoma only shakes her head before taking Kankurou by the hand and pulling him to the far end of his room where he kept his TV. She plopped herself to her knees and began tossing clothes, parts, tools and mechanics behind her trying to clear an adequate path.

A shirt, which had been flung haphazardly, landed upon Kankurou's noggin. A quiet growl was emitted deep from within Kankurou as he yanked it off and threw it behind him with a sigh.

"Shit woman!" Kankurou had to duck again as more clothes came flying his way. He stood up, thinking the worst was over.

He growled peeling laundered boxers from his contorted face.

"Ha!" Ryoma sat back on her haunches, fists raised triumphantly as she beamed proudly. The 64 was successfully plugged in, now all she had to do was see if he had controllers.

"How'd you know I had that thing anyway?"

"Temari. Told me you bought thinking you could salvage parts from it. Told me that when you couldn't figure out how to take it apart you threw it in a box and shoved it quite brutally beneath your bed."

She looked up at him, still sitting upon her haunches and smiled.

"Now then." And with that, she scampered beneath his bed again causing quite the racket looking for controllers.

Sneakily, Kankurou crept towards his bed. Biting his knuckles to keep from laughing, he tiptoed his way further before suddenly bouncing onto the bed butt first.

"KANKUROU!"

His laugh could be heard disappearing down the hall as she scrambled hastily from beneath his bed springs.

"I'LL MURDER YOU, KANKUROU!"

She rested against his heaving form, glaring as viciously as she could while he suppressed laughter.

_She prodded him hard in the chest, sitting upon his stomach grinning maliciously. _

"_I'm going to have bruises because of you. Let's see how well _you_ sleep tonight, my darling." _

"_Is that a promise or a threat?" Kankurou grinned, flashing canines rather too arrogantly for her taste. "Because, you know, that's more of a turn on than a threat, my belle." _

_She almost smacked him. Almost stormed off in exasperation, but thought better of it as she leaned in close to him, close enough to feel him shiver slightly. "It's a promise. My belle." _

She held a box securely to her oxygen deprived body. With each breath full the box rose up and then sharply declined. He just pulled her closer, leaving her nicely snuggled against him and quite tense. She looked up at him and smiled broadly.

"I win and we haven't even started."

"Uh huh. That's what you think."

Ryoma rolled off him, flashed a peace sign and crawled on all fours to plug in the controllers.

"Wait. We? You think that I, Kankurou the puppet master, am going to play child games?"

Ryoma, who was absently scratching her cheek, nodded sheepishly and pouted, "Please?"

"Absolutely not."

"Aww, c'mon Kankurou. Please?"

Kankurou looked away to avoid her gaze, but she was one step ahead of him and before he could even fully evade her pout, she had his chin cupped in her hands and was smiling. Ferociously sweet.

"I promise the tell Gaara and Temari that you have been abducted by chimps so you can sleep in." She grinned broadly showing all her whites.

"Abducted by chimps? Can't you think of _anything _better?" Kankurou narrowed his eyes in what could have passed as a glare. Hardly effective.

"Oh quit complaining, at least it's something!"

She had him pinned to the floor again and was towering over him as she had his arms above his head, her nose inches above his.

"Keh, keh, keh!"

"Eugh!" Furiously, Kankurou swiped at his nose trying to eradicate the feeling of being licked from his memory.

"Damn you woman!"

Ryoma just Keh'd in amusement. "You've been marked my belle."

"Grumble, grumble."

". . ."

Pointed stares. Ryoma absently picks at the lint from her sweater. The corner of Kankurou's eye twitches.

"Kyah!" Ryoma attacks the black box, jamming her controller into the tiny slot with a battle cry.

Kankurou's head spins as he watches sickeningly cute characters chase after one other to the beat of horribly cheerful music. They slam into each other on little puppets made with wheels and instead of arms; they have a joystick with a round spoke-d deal at the top.

He crosses his eyes as he tries to keep up, but always slipping on patches of ice, or left over banana peels. He gapes as Ryoma speeds past him at such speeds he is flung in circles, being drawn backwards on the track.

He studies her with a frown. Kankurou's displeased with his winning streak. He's being beaten by a **_girl_** for heaven's sake! His thumb is sore from violently attacking the "A" button trying to accelerate past his female counterpart. Jumping a box, Kankurou is armed with a turtle shell and carefully aims it at the back of her tires.

"KANKUROU!"

Ryoma is hit dead on and spins wildly out of control and into the lake.

"I.Hate.Water."

Cheekily, her partner grins, flashing her signature peace sign as he once again speeds off ahead of her and into the finish line.

"That's it. You lucky bastard. No more going easy."

"Kyah! I hafta pee. Like a racehorse! Kankurou, I'm going pee, don't you dare un-pause the damn thing."

Shooting him a rather irate look she scampers out of the room and down the hall, all the while you can hear her peals of laughter.

"Heh. Heh. Heh."

"You're freakin' asking for a death wish aren't you?"

She's hit with a lightning bolt, trips over a banana and goes spinning out of control from an erratic shell all in the same span of 5 seconds before she's rudely placed back on course and goes zooming after Kankurou.

"Chidori!" Ryoma sings out as a lightning bolt makes its due course to her male counterpart's frog on wheels.

"Fuck you."

"Gladly."

". . ."

"Beat that sucker!"

Kankurou beams gleefully as he hits her with his own lightning bolt and a red shell, successfully tossing her into the mud.

Yuck.

"Chidori this!" He speeds past her drops a banana peel and speeds towards the finish line before she even has the chance to climb out from the mud.

"Eww." Kankurou held his nose as he tried to disguise his laughter.

She pounced upon him and the two wrestled for dominance, not noticing they were pushing all kinds of buttons, switching modes, deleting files, swapping characters and getting thrown into the swamp by other players.

The time Kankurou had Ryoma pinned; they both had lost horribly, still being stuck in the mud. Quite literally.

Wrapping a blanket around them, the two players snuggled close together in the early morning light, heads bent together, lying flat on their stomachs, feet dangling in the air as they pressed their faces as close as humanly possible to the fast moving screen.

Ryoma yawned stretching and shoving Kankurou temporarily out of the blanket. In return he wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her close, restricting any movement. Squirming and wiggling, Ryoma leaned over to lick his cheek, missed and ended up licking his nose. This got him started, springing so far back, Ryoma thought he would disappear into the wall.

Through her giggles she tried to speak. Over come by laughter she crawled over to him and held out her hand, to which he swatted away with a childish "Hmph."

"Kyah!"

She nudged him gently as she popped his balloon with a banana. He growled, furiously mashing the "A" button to try to aim his balloon higher. Wind took a hold of her helium carrier and swept her out of range of his porcupine balls.

Her left foot entwined with his right and they had never even noticed. Too busy trying to out smart one another, that had no clue as to just how close they were snuggled.

"No, no, no, NOOOOOOOO!" Ryoma wiggled her joystick back and forth desperately trying to gain an advantage over the ever confident Kankurou, who at the moment had her cornered and pretty soon would have her flat out beaten.

She tackled him full force, ending their game.

"Had enough?"

"Rumble, rumble, rumble"

"Hungry." Too lazy to move, Ryoma curls up next to him, tucking her head into her arms closing her eyes as a face contorting yawn unmasks any doubt of sleepiness.

Kankurou stretches out beside her; one arm curled about her waist the other cushioning his noggin as he too yawns out of sheer imitation.

A certain red head prods the game console curiously.

"Temari, come look at this."

". . ."

"What is it?" He prods it again tentatively.

Ignoring the other two sleeping ninja, Gaara and Temari fumble with the Nintendo, trying to coax it out of hibernation.

A rush of static fills the Sand sib's ears as Temari turns on the TV and hunts for a blank channel. They jump back in surprise but quickly recover as Kankurou stirs. Gaara snickers as he grabs a felt pen and marks the two lazy Nin with mustaches and beards.

"Ha! I call the fat monkey looking thing!"

"You can have the fat monkey looking thing; I want that over grown lizard!"

"You're on!"

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Gaara had won when all the players, including Temari, spun off the track and into nearby bodies of water.

Sand had crept into the controllers.


End file.
